John Lydon from the Sex Pistols remembers a young Chrissie Hynde as a “hard girl”; journalist Julie Burchill told The Independent the young Hynde was “half John Wayne, half Cleopatra”; and Hynde’s former lover, the blackleather-clad rock critic Nick Kent, once described his ex as a “harridan”.
She is, undeniably, the quintessential rocker.
A fiercely independent woman with a singular style; a staunch vegetarian and an animal rights activist.
And who could forget the tough-as-nails image of Hynde on the cover of the first Pretenders record in 1979 Red leather, lace fingerless gloves, that trademark heavy, blunt fringe, lashings of tar-black eyeliner and an unflinching gaze.
And those songs. From the snarling Private Life to the unabashed sultriness of Brass in Pocket, and later the chiming catchiness of Back on the Chain Gang, Hynde, with her group the Pretenders, has created some enduring hard-edged pop classics.
While I can vouch that Hynde swears like a trooper, in our interview she is warm, chipper, enthusiastic and frequently exclaims “Yay!” in delight. It’s far from the spiky demeanour of songs such as Tattooed Love Boys in which she crankily demands, “stop snivelling”.
One defining thing about the Pretenders was that they were a gang. Chrissie and her boys.
Hynde has said she loves being in bands, that it’s a band that makes a song a ‘rock’ song. But now, for the first time in her 30-year musical career, she has struck out on her own.
While the Pretenders made riffy new-wave pop, her debut solo album Stockholm is glossier, more power-pop – with an extremely catchy first single, Dark Sunglasses.
“I love that you say it’s power-pop,” says Hynde.
“It’s really fun, basic rock. We’ve got some great guitar performances on here. For me, it’s all about the guitar. With the Pretenders, people were always saying, ‘Yeah it’s just you, yeah it’s just you, yeah it’s just you.’ I’d say, ‘Oh, f*** off!’ And now, ironically, it’s just me.”
It may be a solo album, but Stockholm might actually be one of Hynde’s most collaborative projects yet.
She
worked closely with musician and producer Bj